Total Expenses, Total Utilization, and Sources of Payment for Outpatient Prescription Opioids in the U.S. Adult Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, 2017

Product type:

Statistical Brief 529

MEPS component:

Household Component

Publication date:

April 24, 2020

Description:

In 2017, total outpatient prescription opioid expenses for adults totaled $7.7 billion with Hydrocodone and Oxycodone accounting for nearly three-quarters of those expenses. This Statistical Brief presents Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Household Component (HC) estimates of total expenses and prescription fills for all outpatient prescription opioids that are commonly used to treat pain, and the top five opioid products ranked by total expenses in 2017: hydrocodone, oxycodone, tramadol, morphine, and codeine. The distribution of spending by source of payment is compared for all outpatient prescription medications, outpatient prescription opioids, as well as across four opioid products. In addition, annual total and out-of-pocket expense per person were estimated for all outpatient prescriptions among adults with at least one outpatient opioid fill and at least one fill of the top five opioid products in 2017.